emb(ARK)ing on a hike. [training thread]

[Estelle]

Sleepypaw joined without complaint, taking the opportunity to get all the more familiar with the territory – Mama was brisk, cold, professional. Perhaps it was because of training, Sleepypaw did not know, but she took it to means to act equally professional, as she often was. Nodding subtly, the young apprentice followed at a pace close behind her mama’s, sticking close to her out of sheer… Because she wanted.

The Croaking Swamp was their first stop, a place Sleepypaw was particularly familiar with as the first place she had been send on on patrol moments after her apprentice ceremony; therefore, the news of broom and mushroom came as no surprise. Small flowers on bush, was it? What colour were they again, yellow? She pondered, listening and looking around, until mama mentioned swimming. She would like that. She wanted to learn swimming… She would have to ask mama about it later.

Shadow’s Break was particularly impressive, save for its abundant greenery in plants – an occasional hunting ground, and a path leading towards Icy Heartlands. She nodded, committing this to mind before they reached the heartlands. Subtly, she wondered, if the Icy Heartlands were named after Icestar, the leader Nightshiver had told her of. Oh, it was named after Icestar, mama just confirmed it. Her ears flickered at that, before blue hues looked up to observe the possibly cob-filled trees.


[ @Rose @/Everyone else ]

[Rose]

[ Wrapping this up here so the official territory tour of the older territories is complete. A new thread can be put up for the newest three, since this takes place before the move. ]

Lostspark
She/Her | Purrks Overlook

[ Mourning Ruins ]

Once they were done touring Icy Heartlands - Sleepypaw's place of birth alongside her two siblings (may they both rest in peace) -, the lithe grey feline red her children (and her apprentice) to Mourning Ruins. A recollection of the past, of the fire that raged here. Lostspark had not seen it, but she had heard tales of it.

"This is Mourning Ruins. Formerly an abandoned Twoleg water mill by the Roaring Lake, the Waterbarn was previously used as an emergency camp, hunting grounds, and meeting place for ShadowClan. During the WindClan raid on ShadowClan it mysteriously burned down, killing a couple cats and leaving ShadowClan without shelter. The reason for it's name is in remembrance of the cats who fell here."

[ Saltmeadow Marsh ]

Now that most of the territory had been covered, they still had a couple borders to go over. First up was Saltmeadow Marsh. (Kat was going to speeed through these). "This is our border with RiverClan. Some of you may be familiar with it, some of you may not be. Whatever you do, do not cross the border. Never cross the border unless Dawnstar is telling you to."

[ Whispering Wetlands ]

"This next one is Whispering Wetlands. The same rules as the last apply here, but I can also say that if a rabbit or two were to cross over the border and into ShadowClan territory, that's free game. Anyway, since I mentioned rabbits, you probably already know what Clan we share this border with - yes, WindClan."

Glancing at the flock of apprentices, Lostspark waited to see if they had anything that needed clarification.

[ Herondrive Hollow ]

"And lastly... here we are. Herondrive Hollow; you can probably smell the ThunderClanners from ten fox-lengths away. Again, never cross the border unless Dawnstar is telling you to. Don't let anyone taunt you into crossing the border either. If they cross first, that's on them, and you can... get rid of them however you please. If you have questions, ask me, or you can just sniff around a bit. We'll be heading home after this."

[ @Mica - Birdpaw / @Neptune. - Cinderpaw / @Poprock - Moonpaw / @taillow - Mirepaw / @Estelle - Sleepypaw / @alec - Rookpaw | For those of you who haven't posted, you're always free to post a catch-up going over all the territories missed! I love you guys. (If you want me to stop mentioning you, that's totally okay! Just let me know) ]

[alec]

with their back turned to what rookpaw couldnt help but mentally call shadowclans rugged ranged, the icy heartlands that is, lostspark lead them towards the charred remains of what mightve been a two leg nest once, mourning ruins she called it. though rooks guess was as bad as any other cats, she had never actually seen a twoleg nest, or a twoleg at all, one might think that being an outsider would mean being closer to twolegs and kittypets but for rook, that couldnt be further from the truth.
grey eyes scanned the surroundings, the burnt down structure was still mostly barren, except the few spots moss and other hardy plants had begun to grow amongst the ashes. the mysterium around the origins of the fire sparked curiosity in rook, had it been an unlucky (or lucky depending on the angle) coincidence? had windclan figured out to how summon fire? or had starclan been so displeased with shadowclan they were to strike them down? with questions unanswered she turned her attention back to things she could ponder about without crossing the lines between realistic and straightup made up, that being, the charred building and the sparce weeds. she hadnt seen the structure before it burnt down but practically watching plants take back what was once theirs was facinating none the less. rookpaw wondered how much longer it would be until moss and weeds would take over entirely again, how much longer until scrubs would wrap around long forgotten structures, how much longer until mice built their dens at the edge of stone and dust..

lostspark continued their tour, now towards a place rook was more familiar with, though not with this side of it, but the marshland stretching along the other side of the border. a small part of rookpaw wanted someone to see them, know that she was doing so much better now that she had crossed to the other side, but the potential of someone spotting them made her mostly squeamish. rookpaw waited for the other apprentices to check out the border while herself howevering close to lostspark and relief spread warm and thick when then finally moved on towards windclan territory.

the further they got around shadowclan territory the more she wondered why they hadnt adapted to swimming yet, sure it was mostly marshland or wetland and not full on large bodies of water, but it was still pretty wet all over. they reached whispering wetlands, another bit of territory of the category 'wet, why dont you swim' but with very interesting trees as well. they twisted and stretched in ways that made rook a bit uncomfortable, why would a tree ever grow that way? and at a glance upwards, equally twisted branches, slick from moss and humidity, made her feel even more uneasy.

lastly, herondrive hollow, and lostspark was right, they could smell the thunderclanners almost immediately and for rook it brought memories of a battle lost moons ago. none of the injuries she had sustained that day still stung but knowing they were there was more than enough and maybe rookpaw could understand why the clans held grudges over so many moons. "do they try to get cats to cross often?" they took their eyes off the border, head tilted in lostsparks direction in question.

[ @Rose - lostspark ]

[Estelle]

The rest of the patrol mainly consisted of borders or areas she already was familiar with; the mention of the burned down waterbarn was something she recalled from her history lesson and Miss Grandmama's education, whilst some scents among the borders proved to be familiar courtesy of the gatherings she had previously attended. With each of these in mind, Sleepypaw kept a close step by her family, looking around.

[Mica]

Birdpaw
ShadowClan
she/her | 7 moons | 17/100
[Blue-grey tabby with dark blue overcoat, white underside and amber eyes]
Purrks: Lyrebird's Lullaby [PERMANENTLY ACTIVE]
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Birdpaw nodded along with everything her mother said, and even though her brain was full of holes that all the information would leak out of, she did her best to catalogue everything so she could remember it for the future!!

[Quick wrap up post, sorry!! Thank you so much Kat : D]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw (43/100)

Cinderpaw followed along, taking note of the territories that, in the coming moons, would no longer be of use to shadowclan because this takes place in before the move that CinderPaw has no knowledge of.

(realized i completely forgot to reply to this LMAO so not mentioning anyone just getting a reaction up)